The Fantasy Football Mailbag: Answering all your Fantasy Questions

Fantasy Football Week 1 is behind us.

How did you do? Did you win your match-up? Are at the top of your league? Or did your opponent have Tom Brady and bury you in the dust? (Or maybe..you buried them).

I continue to get a lot of great questions from readers, both general and specific, and I once again thank everyone who sent something in.

Good luck in Week 2!

I had a good week, but there was a guy on my bench who did well. What’s the best way to know from week to week what guys should be active and who should be on the bench – how much does a good performance one week mean for the next?

Is it like baseball where you really can tell a lot by numbers?

I covered this a little last week but let’s get into more details now that we are into Week 1.

Here is what you should look at:

I know this might sound like a lot to those of you that are new to Fantasy Football but as time goes on you will learn more about what to look for.

One last thing: It is important not to overreact to one-week wonders. It is also important not to overreact if one of your studs plays poorly. These things will also work themselves out and after 2-3 weeks you will start to see trends that can help inform your decisions.

Should I be looking at/caring about who my fantasy opponent is this week and who’s on his/her team?

First of all, thank you for saying his/her. So many people refer to him when they speak  about Fantasy Football, as if hims are the only people that play. Girls/women (see what I did there?) play Fantasy, too.

To answer your question, no.

You obviously want to score more points than your opponent but you do that by making your team the best it can be in any given week.  I do look at who my opponent is starting so I know who not to cheer for but I don’t really believe in starting someone just because they are facing my opponent. Points are points.

There have been weeks that I’ve looked at projections and started  a high upside guy over a reliable average type-guy in an effort to win. A sort of go-big-or-go-home strategy. But in all sincerity, I would  just try to make your team the best you can EVERY week.

Nate Kaeding tore his ACL. I dropped him and I picked up Folk.  Should I have traded for Janikowski?

I know some people won their games last week because of his absurd 63-yard FG bu you can’t count on that every week. Seabass is great but I wouldn’t recommend  trading quality skill position players for any kicker. You are better off add/dropping based on match-ups week to week .

There are plenty of other great kickers out there.

Start/ Sit

Who should I start : Saints Robert Meachem or Bills Stevie Johnson?

My instinct says Stevie Johnson.

Word out of Buffalo on Thursday is that Johnson was held out of practice for a groin injury (this is not a new injury).  Sounds like he was just given a day off so I would worry too much. The Raiders gave up a ton of yards to the Broncos last week and Fitzpatrick will be looking for Johnson for the big play.

My decision to play Johnson over Meachem is also about the New Orleans offense.

There is a possibility that Lance Moore returns this week and while he is not the player Meachem is, it will translate to fewer targets for both players (also factor in Henderson). On top of that, the Chicago defense is good and they took away a lot from Matt Ryan last week. I think Brees, as good as he us, will have to look to Sproles and Graham for the majority of the game.

Kristine Reese is the lead New York Jets write for Aerys Sports and a regular contributor to Aerys Offsides and The Pulse. You can follow her on Twitter @KristineReese.